As noted by @iNeal and iDownloadBlog, the new iOS 6.1 Beta 5 released yesterday contains a reference suggesting that Apple may be looking to offer 128 GB iOS devices in upcoming generations.

The reference to a 128 GB capacity comes as part of SystemPartitionPadding key in the build manifest associated with the release and is not found in publicly available versions of iOS.

While the observation does not mean that a 128 GB iOS device is definitely coming later this year, this is not the first time in recent months that Apple has hinted at future 128 GB iOS devices. iTunes 11, released in late November, contains a graphic corresponding to a mobile device with a capacity of 128 GB, although no such device has been released so far.

First this is really needed in iPad and frankly is worth waiting for. Ideally we will see capacities doubled at each price point.

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Originally Posted by MMOTotal

Most likely a selling feature of the 5S so people upgrade from previous models.

That would have zero impact on me buying a 5S.

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Also should please a lot of people because the amount of times I see "128 GB please" before each keynote is quite high.

Actually I can see where people would need this space. I don't carry a lot of media with me but even so 32GB isn't enough. Lets just say lesson learned here. If I had a choice between a 128 GB iPhone and an iPad I'd go for the fat iPad first. IPad needs the storage and frankly needs more RAM too.

Frankly I'd support anything that speeds up Safari and allows for 100% compatibility between Apple office products on Mac OS and iOS.

Oh god the 'March' insistent refresh crowd in the forums will be using this tidbit as being something of insurmountable evidence of March release for the next 8 - 10 weeks in every thread... It's painful enough as is.

It seems so obvious to expand to 128 that I was surprised the iPad 4th Gen didn't do it. You have to think that of all the space constraints, the iPad had plenty of room for doubling down on flash.

Apple has a bit of an inflation problem: They want to sell you videos and music, yet as time goes on we slowly run out of room and end up micro-managing what is available when we are offline. I just want everything I own to be on the darn device, or a streaming service that I can forget about without the threat of throttling and fees.

@dugbug But higher capacities also require a higher amount of iCloud storage for backups (not if you are filling the additional 60 gigs with iTunes in the Cloud-media, but if you are filling it with apps).
Too bad that they don't give out more free iCloud storage with new devices, with an iPad 4, iPad Mini and iPhone 5 (not my devices, but there will be people who have all of these devices) you will run out of storage for backups easily, would be cool it you got 5gigs per device (or 5gigs for the first device and 3 additional gigabytes per additional device).

But now back to this rumor:

What about an increase in the base capacity of all devices?

All iPhone 5S starting with 32GB and all iPhone 5 and 4S (and maybe they will still sell the iPhone 4) starting with 16GB).

Pros:
In the past, a unique selling point of the iPhone was its higher base capacity than any Android device, those had only 512 MB or perhaps 8 GB of storage capacity, requiring SD cards for additional storage (creating the App2SD-problem, not all apps could be moved to the SD card).

Android devices have increased their storage capacities to iPhone levels or beyond, their base capacity often higher than the base iPhone capacity and their maximum capacity (including SD card) even higher than the iPhone.

Also, 8GB are not enough for a future cheaper iPhone 5, they have to increase the capacity of their cheaper devices at some point in the future and i think the iPhone 5 could be the right moment.
Nobody wants to imagine an iPhone 6S with 8GB storage capacity, 4K-resolution video recording feature AND 8GB RAM^^

Cons: Higher manufacturing cost of all devices (but only slightly higher, most likely not enough to offset the benefit a higher capacity adds)

Maybe a higher base capacity discourages people from paying for devices with higher capacity, especially with the cheaper models this could lead to some people chosing a future cheaper iPhone 5 with 16GB over a 32GB iPhone 5S, while he would have taken the 5S if the iPhone 5 were only available with 8GB.

It seems so obvious to expand to 128 that I was surprised the iPad 4th Gen didn't do it. You have to think that of all the space constraints, the iPad had plenty of room for doubling down on flash.

I'm with you on this. I've heard rumors that it takes Apple a very long time to validate flash chips used in its machines. Whatever the problem they really need to get with the program, I think there has been at least two process shrinks of flash since they went to 64 GB

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Apple has a bit of an inflation problem: They want to sell you videos and music, yet as time goes on we slowly run out of room and end up micro-managing what is available when we are offline.

Actually that is a user problem.

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I just want everything I own to be on the darn device, or a streaming service that I can forget about without the threat of throttling and fees.

This will never happen, at least not over Cell. There just isn't enough bandwidth available for everybody to stream media. In fact this is the overriding concern I have that is driving my desire for more flash.

Would never use it. Should be an option for those who would, though. I think the base storage of the MBA should be bumped if this happens. I've got a 64GB MBA and, although it's doable with flash drives, 128 would be more practical for a base machine.

Noteworthy is the fact that no competitor has 'innovated' with the 128 gb drive yet. Whatch out, just the thought that apple will do the obvious will bring about a herd of 'me first' trying to get there before apple.

The question is, why wait for apple to hint at this memory bump before action is taken by competitors that 'innovate'? Because only apple has what it takes to push the envelope... Watch samedung come out and say 'we were thinking about this for a decade now, but convergence of design got us there just after apple, and apple copied us any way'.

I've never seen the need for 128 gb. I have a 32 gb iPhone 5 and I still haven't used all the space, despite an hd movie, 400 songs, 1000+ pictures and a ton of apps. 128 seems like overkill, especially with iTunes in the cloud.

I've never seen the need for 128 gb. I have a 32 gb iPhone 5 and I still haven't used all the space, despite an hd movie, 400 songs, 1000+ pictures and a ton of apps. 128 seems like overkill, especially with iTunes in the cloud.

Yes but one users experience or requirements is not indicative of everyone else's needs or desires.

Yes but one users experience or requirements is not indicative of everyone else's needs or desires.

It's why they offer different sizes as is...

I'm aware that my experiences do not define everyone's, but I consider myself an average user, and I do not see apple offering an expansion of its storage capacities, without a significant price bump, for the few people who need more space. An iPhone is not meant to be a laptop, and an iPad is not a home media storage hub, people need to realize their are devices, called computers, that are designed with that capacity, and that apple will not likely tailor to their needs when it would raise prices significantly and sell very few units. Exponential growth of device storage can not continue to match linear growth in price.